Protective or reinforcing element for shoes



y 1966 A. J. G. BAUDOU 3,248,810

PROTECTIVE OR REINFORCING ELEMENT FOR SHOES Filed Dec. 9, 1963 //V|//VTOR ANTOINE JOSEPH GEORGES BAUDOU 5 f MW Z ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,248,810 Patented May 3, 1966 3,248,810 PROTECTIVE 9R REINFGRCING ELEMENT FOR SHOES Antoine Joseph Georges Baudon, Les Eglisottes, Gironde, France, assignor to Societe a responsabilite limitee dite: Societe Industrielle do Caoutchouc Regenere Filed Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 328,799 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 14, 1962, 918,783, Patent 1,350,139 Claims. (Cl. 3675) So-called safety shoes are well known in the art, said shoes being provided with various protective or reinforcing devices to protect the feet of a utilizer against the impact of heavy parts or objects falling thereon.

Such devices are usually metal guards either permanently or removably mounted at one or several locations of a shoe, principally at its toe end or at its counters, or at its shank portion and on a part or on the whole of its sole.

To prevent chafing of the foot against said metal parts or guards, said elements are usually insulated or spaced from the foot either by embedding said elements within the thickness of the shoe itself, as it is the case for molded vulcanized rubber shoes or while the shoe is being manufactured, by interposing under the protective or reinforcing element a suitably profiled and dimensioned lining usually comprised of foam rubber.

It is well known in the art that, in both cases, said protective or reinforcing elements can be displaced, in the course of manufacture, relatively to the last, such displacement being the cause of numerous rejections.

The present invention is intended to avoid such drawbacks and has for its object a novel improved rigid protective or rein-forcing element for molded or otherwise fabricated so-cal'led safety shoes, said element being essentially characterised by the fact that it comprises, on its inside face, which may or not be covered by some fabric or other flexible lining, projections designed to contact, the shoe last through their inner ends, to ensure both proper positioning and maintaining of said elements relatively to said last in the course of the manufacture of said shoes.

Said reinforcing or protective element may present the following characteristics, taken alone or in combination:

(a) said positioning projections are outwardly directed studs formed by stamping.

(b) said projections are stud inserts pressed through holes formed in the protective element.

(c) said element comprises suit-ably located holes to enable free flow of the molding substance there through.

The present invention has also for its object shoes provided with one or more of the above-mentioned protective elements.

To have a better understanding of the invention it will nOW be described through various illustrative embodiments thereof in connection with the annexed drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a crosssectional view of one of said embodiments of the invention under the form of a protective toe guard, whose projections have been press formed;

FIGS. 2 and 3 represent two protective elements whose projections are inserts;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1VIV of FIG. 5.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a molded shoe provided with protective elements such as shown on FIGS. 2 and 3.

Turning now to the drawings, it can be seen that the protective or reinforcing element shown in FIG. 1 comprises a toe portion -1, preferably made of sheet metal, with inwardly directed projections 2, whose rounded tips are flush with the inner face of the finished shoe ('FIG. 5).

The elements shown on FIG. 2 and 3 are guards 1a to reinforce the shank portion and the heel counter of the shoe (FIG. 5), respect-vely.

Said guards comprise openings 3 (FIG. 2) into which studs 2a are engaged, said studs assuming the same function as projections 2 shown on FIG. 1.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, studs 2a made of resilient material comprise (-FIG. 4) a cylindrical body 4 with two beads or flanges 5 and 6 having a frustoconical rounded end 7. Said studs are pressed into holes 3 and are maintained on guard 1 by their flanges 5 and 6, the =frusto-conical end 7 being located at the inner side of said guard.

It is then sufficient to gently force the guard onto the last (FIG. 5) so that the resilient studs 2 or 2a whose rounded ends are in contact with said last hold and locate the guard on the last. The guard is, thus, automatically located so that it may be coated, on the one hand, with an inside layer 9, which is flush with said rounded ends and, on the other hand, with an outside layer 10.

When the injection process is utilized to manufacture said shoes, some openings 3 may be left opened in guards 1 or 1a to ensure that the injected material fills the free space left between the guard and the core of the mold, which permits the elimination of an inside blank.

It is well understood that the above described embodiments are purely illustrative and should not be taken in any limiting sense and that various changes and modifications can be effected without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective guard adapted to be embedded in a safety shoe while said shoe is being molded on a last, said guard comprising a stiff rein-forcing member formed with opopsed surface portions spaced to embrace between them a portion of said last, said opposed surface portions being provided with projections dimensioned to space said opposed surface portions from said last sufficiently to permit a molding material to flow and form a continuous sheet "between said last and said opposed surfaces when said last portion is embraced between said opposed surfaces.

2. A protective guard as claimed in claim 1, in which said projections are dimensioned and located to hold said reinforcing member in position on said last portion when it is embraced between said opposed surfaces.

3. A protective guard as claimed in claim 2 in which said projections are bosses stamped from said reinforcing member.

4. A protective guard as claimed in claim 2 in which said reinforcing member is perforated and said projections are inserts made of elastic material seated in said perforations.

5. A protective guard as claimed in claim 2 in which some of said perforations are empty to permit said molding material to flow therethrough.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,086 4/1939 Hack et a1 36-76 X 2,334,474 11/ 1943 Chertok 36-72 2,381,280 8/1945 Handelsman 36-77 2,490,469 12/1949 Pittman 36-76 X 2,73 8,600 3/ 1956 Shultz 36-68 FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PROTECTIVE GUARD ADAPTED TO BE EMBEDED IN A SAFETY SHOE WHILE SAID SHOE IS BEING MOLDED ON A LAST, SAID GUARD COMPRISING A STIFF REINFORCING MEMBER FORMED WITH OPPOSED SURFACE PORTIONS SPACED TO EMBRACE BETWEEN THEM A PORTION OF SAID LAST, SAID OPPOSED SURFACE PORTIONS BEING PROVIDED WITH PROJECTIONS DIMENSIONED TO SPACE SAID OPPOSED SURFACE PORTIONS FROM SAID LAST SUFFICIENTLY TO PERMIT AM OLDING MATERIAL TO FLOW AND FORM A CONTINUOUS SHEET BETWEEN SAID LAST AND SAID OPPOSED SURFACES WHEN SAID LAST PORTION IS EMBRACED BETWEEN SAID OPPOSED SURFACES. 